R David Foster, not wishing to impose more words on anybody, most importantly himself, provides this blog for anyone who wishes clarification through explanations by means of words.
Honestly, let me tell personal stories as true as I can possibly remember, which is pretty true if I bother to remember at all, and pretty verifiable if I'm bothering to remember or else it really means nothing to remember it because nobody will ever believe anything I feel worth remembering . . . whatever!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Just search vid932008 on www.google.ca to see it come up first in the list.On this site there are almost all the blog posts in an easily accessible non-linear format, as well as all the animation dating back to 2008, and most of the other artwork and poetry.

Since I get such a kick, still, out of blathering on about this stuff, here's the conclusion of the discussion of HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Two !

Verse 23

. .. ... 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Two, New International Version

Verse 23

. .. ... 23 and One lived in another place. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “ He will be called an otherene .”

from the text of the animation HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Two

written by R David Foster

Verse 23 Discussion

What is an other? It is something other than us or I. This could be an inanimate collection, or other than animal, or other than human, or other than our race, or other than our faith, or other than our nation, or other than our community, or other than our trade, or other than our family, or other than ourselves. There are many distinctions between ourselves and others, and many communities of which we consider ourselves to be a member.

I was always impressed with a phrase from the animated film entitled The Man Who Planted Trees , from the writing of the same title by Jean Giono. The phrase is “There were rivals in virtue and rivals in vice, and the battle royal between vice and virtue raged incessantly.” If we consider a being as other, than how do we treat it. Do we battle it, whether it is virtuous or not, or do we align with it and seek its benevolence? This could be God himself that we consider other and seek his benevolence. This could be Satan, the opposer, that we oppose in the hopes of conquering his influence.

The whole idea of the duality of whole and part enables one to consider both situations, the other than us, and the united with us. This understanding dances through one's mind, sparkling and alighting here and there with the identification of One and Many, ourselves and other.

Christians may pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon them and guide and enlighten them. This is the seeking of a union with God, who is understood as other than us, as well as greater than us. But if God is being itself, the Son is knowledge of being, and the Holy Spirit is the love of being, than as legitimate beings, if only temporal, we are to a certain extent . . . gods! Likewise, to the extent that we do not exist, our limitations on our being, we are creatures, temporal and mortal. So there is the divine in each one of us, as well as the opposer in each one of us, and a portion of our existence that will cease to exist, whether from day to day, or for eternity.

What does it mean that Jesus was called a Nazarene? Literally, it means he came from Nazareth. But the intention is to show that Jesus is member of those that come from Nazareth, and shares characteristics with others who come from Nazareth. The phrase “ can anything good come out of Nazareth?” will give one the idea of what it means to call Jesus a Nazarene. This is the delineation of a distinction between good and Nazareth, and between good and Nazarenes. It is implied that Nazarenes were to be kept as other, not united with good, as we are united with good. Jesus was an other.

Likewise, the sacred One relationship balancing whole and part, female and male, will be considered other until it is accepted and considered united with us. But for the meanwhile, until the sacred One is accepted and adopted as our life's guide, it will be considered other. So it will dwell in an other place from where we are, and remain “foreign” to us. But this will be in degrees, as some people agree with parts of my writing that they may have read, but find other parts challenging and unacceptable at this time. Likewise, I have not presented any of this to any church authority, choosing to develop it until it has a life of its own and can stand up to critical evaluation. Critical thought – what other parlour tricks can one do? This entire project, this HESUS JOY CHRIST , is other until it is accepted and united with us.

So the sacred One relationship, balancing whole and part, lives in an other place. Religions have not accepted it, whatever religion one may consider, yet neither has the secular world accepted it, expressing an aversion to religious engagement. So, by trying to walk the line between religious and secular, I have excluded myself and this work from both – both reject this work as either being too religious, or not authorized religion, being too secular.

This is the cross that christians are called to bear, this balance of whole and part, accused of being too partial by those who are too wholistic, and being accused as being too wholistic by those that are too partial! In striving for a balance, one becomes persecuted from both or all sides. So just as christians were other than the Roman Empire, as well as other than Judaism, even though they were considered enlightened by the Greeks, and considered themselves to have witnessed the fulfilment of the Hebrew faith, Judaism, this sacred One relationship, balancing whole and part, female and male, is considered other by all. So it dwells in an other place.

This dwelling in an other place, is where new value comes from. Just as splitting the atom releases power, so within today's world there is value, rather than acquiring value from beyond today's world. It is in the infinitesimal that the means to fathom the infinite can be found. Yet when one becomes aware of the One sacred relationship balancing whole and part, a new world of opportunity becomes apparent. When one can see both the whole and the part of each and all they encounter, one can navigate throughout, gathering value as they go, and knowledge of where they are and where they are headed, so as to effectively envision and gather value.

In a closed system, there is not any opportunity for new growth as the system is closed to anything beyond it. Or is there an opportunity for new growth? If the system were to change from within, then first some part of the system will be considered wrong, as it addresses a greater system, beyond the limits of the closed system in which it is considered wrong. This is why forgiveness is so important, that something that is wrong is not to be opposed so that it may run its course in the hope that it will present a greater system to a closed system. This is why Jesus was persecuted, because he was wrong in the existing closed system, and this is why Jesus was successful, because he was correct in a greater, farther ranging system.

Just as navigation by the stars was developed in the closed system of the north African desert caravans, and became the means by which ocean navigation was possible, opening the new world, developments within existing systems, although contrary to the existing closed system, will be the means by which the system will expand and include greater assets.

nuttin' . . .

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R David Foster is an independent minded, gregarious individual, seeking the path less trod, for the sake of those he loves - anyone who may countenance the eternal.
David Foster graduated Sheridan College Arts Fundamentals Intensive Program with Honours in 1993, and continued on into the Classical Animation program there.
As a member of the Liason of Independent Film of Toronto (LIFT), he recieved a grant from LIFT and a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to complete his 6 minute animated film "HYPOTHERMIA / My Kayak Prayer" in 35mm in 2008. He is now working on a sixth episode of his animated series HESUS JOY CHRIST, as well as watercolour painting weekly.